Al Jouf Cement swings to net profit, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Al Jouf Cement Co Tuesday swung to a net profit of SAR25.9m (US$6.9m) in the second quarter of 2011, from a net loss of SAR1.7m a year earlier, on higher sales.

First-half earnings per share came in at SAR0.42, compared with a loss per share of SAR0.07 a year earlier, it said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website.

The company, which started trading on the kingdom’s bourse in August last year, said its second-quarter operating profit stood at SAR28.6m, compared with SAR448,000 a year earlier.

Last week, Jouf Cement said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry didn’t renew its export license.

The company didn’t give a reason for the ministry’s move, but said it will increase its cement prices, which will have a positive impact on the firm’s financial earnings and will offset the loss from the export ban.